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Eloy, Happ, Freitas, and Carhart Go Yard at Minor League Camp

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 04/01/2016 - 6:22pm

Eloy Jimenez belted a two-run 1st inning home run, P. J. Higgins collected four hits (three singles and a triple), scored a run, and drove-in another, and SP Preston Morrison tossed five innings of shutout ball, leading the South Bend Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Field #4, and David Freitas clubbed a two-run 1st inning HR (his second round-tripper in two days) and Billy McKinney drilled a tie-breaking RBI single in the 6th, as the Tennessee Smokies edged the Iowa Cubs 3-2 on Field #6, in Minor League Camp game action Friday morning at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.

Ian Happ smacked a solo HR for Myrtle Beach in a losing cause on Field #4, and Ben Carhart hammered a solo home run in a losing cause for Iowa on Field #6. (Carhart was temporarily moved-up to the Iowa squad from Tennessee because the three catchers assigned to Iowa are in Las Vegas with the parent club).

The game on Field #6 was called after seven innings of play.

There were a number of roster moves made at Minor League Camp prior to the two games, with the Opening Day rosters of the four full-season clubs (particularly regarding position players and starting pitchers) becoming a bit more clear. There are still a few more moves/cuts to be made, however, especially involving the AAA Iowa and Hi-A Myrtle Beach bullpens and the Iowa outfield, and it's always possible that some of the assignments could be changed at the last minute due to injuries or other factors.

Also, 18 players who are assigned to the Cubs Dominican Acdemy but who were not invited to Minor League Camp will be attending Extended Spring Training and will be arriving over the next several days. The first three (LHP Pablo Ochoa, LHP Eugenio Palma, and RHP Andri Rondon) arrived today. Ochoa and A. Rondon attended Instructs in Mesa last Fall, but Palma is making his U. S. debut.

DBacks are almost impossible to predict.
In their minds, do they think Peralta can play center field? The only way they're replacing a lot of Pollock's value at this point in the offseason is to trade for a corner outfielder like Carlos Gonzalez or (more likely) Jay Bruce.
I imagine most likely is that Brito and Torres are both pushed into everyday service and that they have no depth. Hard to say. Either way, I wasn't a big believer in DBacks 2016, but this injury really, really sets back that cause.

Pollock broke the same elbow in 2010 and was lost for the season. Sucks. Heyward's head first slide into home Thursday night made me wince - visions of disaster thankfully not realized - but damn he's an exciting/smooth player

The Diamondbacks optioned C Tuffy Gosewisch to Triple A and will keep Chris Herrmann as the backup to Welington Castillo. ... Ex-major-league (2015 Cub) C Taylor Teagarden, among the athletes accused of using performance-enhancing drugs in a December report, was suspended for 80 games. ... Orioles LHP Lex Rutledge and Diamondbacks LHP Cameron Smith were suspended 50 games each for violating the minor-league drug program.

Recent comments

A's have decided to not be horrible and to pay their minor leaguers through the end of the season (august)

"“I changed my mind after spending a lot of time talking to our team,” A's owner John Fisher told the Chronicle. “I concluded I’d made a mistake. I’ve listened to our fans and others, and there is no question that this is the right thing to do. We clearly got this decision wrong. These players represent our future and we will immediately begin paying our minor-league players. I take responsibility and I’m making it right.""

I'm in. What more do we need, really. A beer. A game or two. The 162 game season can wait until next year (I hope). Have fun with a micro-mini season. Let the powers fight over the labor agreements. They can finish by next spring, right?

IN BRIEF (Tribune, from their mini-sports section): In a letter, MLB rejects players’ plan for 114 gamesNews servicesMajor League Baseball rejected the players’ proposal for a 114-game schedule in the pandemic-delayed season with no additional salary cuts, telling the union that teams have no reason to think 82 games is possible and now will discuss even fewer.Players made their proposal Sunday, five days after management’s initial economic plan.

I agree. Laura is the real deal. I think she was the major influence that showed Tom R. and Crane Kenney how to show a "human side" and deal realistically and in a non-threatening way, with the local Chicago politicians. Kenney was clearly clueless in his initial attempts regarding the neighborhood, the Rooftop owners, and the Wrigley Field rebuild.